


Disequilibrium

by Gemellath



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
Genre: Angst, Emotionally Repressed, Family Feels, Flashbacks, Gen, Help, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Opens and closes at the start of The Second Part, Original Character Death(s), Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 05:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17933801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemellath/pseuds/Gemellath
Summary: Unikitty thinks some unhappy thoughts. But the most troubling of all is the idea that her fallen parents would despair of what has happened to the visionary world they swore to protect…





	Disequilibrium

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo if you follow my LEGO sideblog, you'll remember this headcanon I had when I was 14 about why Unikitty is a princess and not a queen. It should probably explain itself.  
> Anyway, here's my first fic on the Archive. Enjoy!

A single ray of light peered through a gap in the thin roof. The accompanying dust settled on the battle-worn marble floor. Apart from the sounds of struggling beyond this small hideout, it was a welcome moment of respite. Hard to come by when the world around you is constantly being ripped apart by aliens.

Unikitty tried hopelessly to ignore the metallic smell in the air as she caught her breath. She found comfort in that the ground below her hasn't fallen away, taken to a land far beyond her understanding. The little pet house she had built in an act of desperation was beige, unassuming and discreet. She was safe for now. Curling up in the far end of her makeshift den, she allowed her mind to wander. Perhaps that would help her to shut out the chaos just beyond.

Hours ago, she thought the day had been won. That the citizens of all the worlds were free to dream and create once again. But when the creatures from the Planet Duplo rained down, rejecting an offering of peace, she concluded that such a day would likely never come. From then on, life had been a struggle for survival. In such a short space of time, everything went from awesome to, in the frankest terms, awful. Torturous. Bleak.

Such negative words were foreign to Unikitty. It was enough to make her long for her home. But she knew that, with the aliens preferring cute, colourful things, the rebuilding of her beloved Cloud Cuckoo Land was out of the question. Just thinking about it broke her heart, as if she had been made to watch the Dog crumble in front of her all over again. How long would it be before she could feel the pappy clouds beneath her hooves? Before she could let loose the colours of her imagination without fear? Before she could harness chaos as a tool not for destruction, but for creation? As she plummeted further and further into these memories of a home she couldn't return to, the faces of her subjects flashed before her. So many displaced friends; she doubted that they all made it out alive.

Then a little blue tail wagged tauntingly amongst those recollections. Her heart sank… What happened to Puppycorn? Unikitty had gotten so wrapped up in the events of Taco Tuesday that she hardly had a spare moment to consider the impact on her baby brother. She sighed inwardly. He deserved better from her than to be an afterthought, a footnote of a tragedy. Wait, what if he didn't make it out of Cloud Cuckoo Land alive? Even if he did, how would he be able to fend for himself?!

Unikitty couldn't bear the idea of the last connection she had to her past being severed. She felt a chilling breeze rake her fur as it faded from creamy pink to baby blue. But at least her brother would be in good company.

The afterlife would give him a chance to be with the family he barely knew.

 

* * *

 

From the top of the cotton-candy hill, one could be treated to stunning, uninterrupted views of all the realms; unique, eclectic and impermanent. For a time, anyway. Unikitty's parents always told her that the worlds used to be so unpredictable, wild and playful before their friends started to disappear. Nowadays, everything seemed so still. This view was the last reminder of a more peaceful time; a place where they always used to come and witness change in its purest form.

Today, on their daughter's third birthday, they had taken her to see it for the first time.

“It is sad how the wheels of creative thought have slowed,” said her mother in a quiet voice, “But that is where we come in.” Unikitty turned to look at her. She expressed feline and canine traits in equal measure, being gentle of face and stout in form. Her eyes were big, round and a warm shade of brown, her smooth pelt a stunning electric blue. She was the owner of a long, fluffy tail that glistened like tinsel made from aquamarine. Her little whiskers curved downwards slightly and never seemed to stay still. Her daughter, not sure how to respond, nodded, at least conveying her willingness to listen.

“We have watched these lands change and grow for many years, your father and I. We have seen beauty and happiness, born from the tiniest of ideas. Our kingdom, Cloud Cuckoo Land, was founded out of a desire to let such creativity prosper. And, in these troubling times of suffocation, our friends need space to breathe more than ever.”

Of all the memories of her mother, her tendency to speak in metaphors stood out the most. Her odd emphasis on the word 'friends’ was strange at the time.

“But we can't look after the kingdom forever.” It was her father's turn to speak now. “One day, Unikitty, that job will be yours.” Unikitty found it far easier to keep up with her father when he spoke. He seemed more knowledgeable in how to communicate with young children. He had the looks for it, in any case - tall, lanky and long-legged with warm blue eyes, a shocking pink coat and a lustrous white mane that flowed like a flag high in the sky. His standout feature was a grand, pointed horn weaved with blue and yellow. He gave a little smile.

“Still, you won't have to do that all by yourself. Do you remember why?”

A small, squeaky “Why?” was Unikitty's response. She actually did know, but what choice did she have but to play along?

“Oh, silly girl!” laughed her mother. “Your baby brother would be a tad offended at that! He can hardly wait to meet you.”

Unikitty's face lit up at this little reminder. A sibling! Someone to laugh at her silly jokes. Someone to play with on those long, lonely days. Most importantly, someone to shower with love and happiness. Together, they would rule this colourful little cloud kingdom as a happy family.

At least, that's how it was supposed to be.

 

* * *

 

It started with the door bursting open. Unikitty woke with a jolt; sure, the courts never sleep, but no one ever came into her room with such force! She watched wide-eyed as her mother dashed into the room. Her face was pale and her eyes were bloodshot. A trembling Puppycorn was being carried by the scruff of his neck before hastily being lowered onto the floor as gunshots (at least, that what Unikitty always assumed they sounded like) pounded on the walls in the distance. Unikitty froze in shock. What in the worlds was going on?

“Come on, we should be safe in here!” her mother shouted just as her father charged in and shut the door once more. He noticed his child's distressed expression and realized that he and his wife had a lot of explaining to do. Whether or not they had the time to do it.

“We’ve been found,” he said, trying to sound as if he hadn't just fled gunfire. “I don't know how, but we have. Those things… I've never seen anything like them. Robots, they were, with long arms… They were taking apart the castle, but I think they're more intent on taking us apart! And then there were the ones with the guns...”

“I don't understand…” sighed Unikitty, lips quivering. “Why would they come for us? We didn't do anything  bad, did we?”

Her mother sighed. “I am sorry I never told you sooner, but there is something you need to know about our friends. They are part of a resistance group called the Master Builders, our last hope of restoring freedom to these worlds. That is why these robots have been trying to find us. We combined our magic to conceal our home, but somehow they broke through. Have they been studying our techniques?”

“Does that mean that you're Master Builders, too?” was the question that Unikitty would have asked had a metallic arm not ripped a hole through the door. Instead, she jumped back in shock, Puppycorn rushing to her side. A warm white glow emanated from her father's horn.

“I'm sorry,” he said as the children were surrounded by a bubble of ivory light.

As Unikitty's surroundings melted away, the sound of her mother telling her she loved her echoed on and on and on… and the final pained wails.

The rest was a haze. She remembered an old man with a staff having to tell her and Puppycorn that their parents couldn't be with them anymore. She remembered knowing exactly what he meant. She remembered being told that the responsibility of ruling the sanctuary for Master Builders now fell to her. But she didn't want to be called Queen. Her mother didn't die for her child to usurp the throne from beneath her feet.

In the meantime, she had found her own ways to deal with her loss. Greet your visitors with a smile. Chase away the unhappy thoughts. Put simply, stay positive. That was how it would be for the next two years.

A fat lot of good that did.

 

* * *

 

What was there worth staying positive for? Nothing had changed since the Fellowship of Strangers found her. The worlds were just as dangerous and inhospitable to original thought as she had found them. She still knew nothing of Puppycorn's fate. All of her hard work and fighting for her beliefs... had been for nothing.

As her fur burned red with resentment, Unikitty was surprised to note that her tiredness had surpassed her need for violent revenge. Had it gotten to the point that barely escaping danger was just her life now? She decided she was too exhausted to ponder this, instead allowing sleep to claim her. There would be time for disembowelment in the morning.

The lone ray of daylight grew dim and disappeared.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think. All kudos are appreciated; thanks in advance!


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